Philippians 1:6
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I think we can take this verse very personally. A good paraphrase for this verse is that saying we have seen on T-shirts “Be patient, God is not finished with me yet.” God began His good work in you the day you were conceived. Ephesians 1:3 says that “He predestined us to adoption as sons”. If you have trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior the Holy Spirit resides within you causing you to grow in your relationship with the Lord. That work of maturity will not be complete until the “the day of Christ Jesus”. That day is the day the Lord Jesus calls Christians home to be with Him in heaven (I Thes. 4:16-17).
To some extent that perfecting work is dependent upon us because God has given us a free will. We can resist God’s work in our life or we can embrace it. We resist it by insisting on having our own way; by not following God’s leading. He doesn’t force His way on us. We can passively resist it by not praying, by not being diligent to study God’s Word, by not worshipping Him and by not fellowshipping with other believers. All of these actions (praying, studying, worshiping, fellowshipping) will help us grow and mature in Him.
I can assure you this is not a good approach to life. By resisting God’s will you will not experience the joy we read about in this book. As you resist God’s will you are allowing the old sin nature to control your life. You are quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Someone has said that there is no one as miserable as a Christian out of fellowship with God and I think that is true.
Sometimes we tend to get impatient with God but we must remember that His timing is perfect. He knows what is best for you at each point in your life and is at work molding you into the person He wants you to be. You can be confident that He will complete that work and that your joy will be complete.
I think we can take this verse very personally. A good paraphrase for this verse is that saying we have seen on T-shirts “Be patient, God is not finished with me yet.” God began His good work in you the day you were conceived. Ephesians 1:3 says that “He predestined us to adoption as sons”. If you have trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior the Holy Spirit resides within you causing you to grow in your relationship with the Lord. That work of maturity will not be complete until the “the day of Christ Jesus”. That day is the day the Lord Jesus calls Christians home to be with Him in heaven (I Thes. 4:16-17).
To some extent that perfecting work is dependent upon us because God has given us a free will. We can resist God’s work in our life or we can embrace it. We resist it by insisting on having our own way; by not following God’s leading. He doesn’t force His way on us. We can passively resist it by not praying, by not being diligent to study God’s Word, by not worshipping Him and by not fellowshipping with other believers. All of these actions (praying, studying, worshiping, fellowshipping) will help us grow and mature in Him.
I can assure you this is not a good approach to life. By resisting God’s will you will not experience the joy we read about in this book. As you resist God’s will you are allowing the old sin nature to control your life. You are quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Someone has said that there is no one as miserable as a Christian out of fellowship with God and I think that is true.
Sometimes we tend to get impatient with God but we must remember that His timing is perfect. He knows what is best for you at each point in your life and is at work molding you into the person He wants you to be. You can be confident that He will complete that work and that your joy will be complete.
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